Schools on Staten Island's South Shore raise funds for March of Dimes

Attending the March of Dimes' March for Babies kickoff at the Hilton Garden Inn are, from left, Jessica and Mike Daly, with kids, Madison, 8, and Logan, 7, this year's Ambassador family, and Andrew Cataneo, Mark Irving and Jon Salmon, event co-chairs. Staten Island Advance/Anthony DePrimo

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- When it comes to raising money for the March of Dimes, Staten Island schools know how to step up to the plate.

According
to the Staten Island Division of the March of Dimes, four South Shore
schools raised a total of more than $27,000 for the group's annual March
for Babies campaign last year.

Topping the list was Bernstein
Intermediate School with just over $16,000, which placed the Huguenot
school number two on the March of Dimes' list of Top 10 Staten Island
schools. Paulo Intermediate School, also in Huguenot, placed fourth in
the Top 10, raising more than $5,500.

Tottenville was
represented by Totten Intermediate School, in fifth-place with more than
$4,000, and Tottenville High School in Huguenot, finished eighth in the
Top 10, with more than $2,100 raised.

The Top 10 schools were
recognized for their achievements during a kickoff reception last month
at the Hilton Garden Inn, Bloomfield, for the 2013 March for Babies
campaign.

This year's March for Babies will step off April 28, a
day that has been officially dubbed "March of Dimes Sunday" on Staten
Island. The course is 4.8 miles long. Walkers set off from the Staten
Island Mall in New Springville at 9 a.m. On-site registration opens at 8
a.m. Organizers are hoping to match and exceed last year's total take
of $463,000. Schools and students usually raise about half the total.

Raising money for the March of Dimes has become a tradition, a culture of giving, among the borough's schools, said Stephanie Petito, community director for the Staten Island division.

Students
raise the money in a number of creative ways, from selling wristbands,
to planning bake sales, sponsoring social events such as dances, and
selling the March of Dimes' familiar, sneaker-shaped support cards. They
also solicit family members and friends, often seeking contributions
through Facebook and the social media. And most importantly, they field
teams of students, parents and faculty members to walk in the March for
Babies. Organizers say the teams of walkers are the cornerstone of the
non-profit's campaign for healthier babies.

According to the
March of Dimes, one in every eight babies is born early. The incidence
has risen 30 percent since 1981 and is currently nine times worse than
the rate of polio in 1952 – the worst year of the polio epidemic. The
March of Dimes was organized in 1938 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt
to help find a cure for polio. After the discovery of a vaccine for that
disease, the group began funding scientific research on the prevention
of premature births and helping families so affected.

Schools
and individuals interested in registering for the March for Babies or
donating to or raising funds for the March of Dimes should visit the
group's website at www.marchforbabies.org, or call Ms. Petito at the Staten Island office in South Beach, 718-981-3000.